Love Blossoms at Weddings
by westerncowgirl
Summary: It's Han and Leia's wedding day and as their new life together begins their friends Luke and Mara start to realize they feel more than just friendship towards each other. This story is very much AU. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Timeframe: **About three or four years after the Thrawn trilogy.

**Summary**: It's Han and Leia's wedding day and as their new life together begins, Luke and Mara start to realize that they might be feeling more than friendship towards the other at the wedding. But with Luke and Mara anything can and will happen. This story is very much AU.

**Author's Note**: For the purpose of this story most of the events that happened in the Thrawn trilogy are accurate. The only things that are different are that Han and Leia weren't married and didn't have twins, and I might add a few things in that never happened.

Also this is my first Star Wars story that I have written and if you review please don't be mean or rude. If you have any good advice I'd love to hear it or if you want me to add something just let me know.

__WesternCowgirl

Love Blossoms at Weddings

Chapter 1

The ceremony was beautiful. The couple standing at the alter showed much love for one another as they clasped their hands together and said their fateful vows to each other. You could see the love shining in the eyes of both lovers standing across from each other. As they finished saying their vows to each other, many in attendance had tears in their eyes.

It seemed that the only person who didn't have tears in their eyes was the maid of honor. Mara Jade noted all of the tears being shed as she stood off to the side of Leia. She didn't have any tears in her eyes because she didn't believe in crying over happy things. She had learned as a young girl that tears were a sign of weakness.

She didn't believe that much anymore, but she also didn't believe in crying over a happy occasion. Why did all of these stuffy diplomatic people have to cry over a wedding? Or worse yet, some of the guests were pretending to cry so that they didn't seem left out.

It infuriated Mara, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Instead she stood off to the side of Leia with the rest of Leia's bride's maids and smiled instead. It didn't matter anyways, thought Mara. Nobody would be looking at her right now anyways. Everyone's eyes were glued on the beautiful bride reciting her fateful vows.

Throughout the rest of the ceremony, Mara continued smiling and kept thinking her own private thoughts. She was happy that her friend was getting married to the man of her dreams. It had taken them long enough to realize that they were perfect for each other and even longer yet for Han to propose to Leia.

She remembered when Leia had told her about her engagement and then showed her the ring that Han had given her. It was a beautiful diamond that seemed to shimmer in the light in a million different ways and show just as many different colors at the same time. Afterwards Leia had asked her to be her maid of honor. Mara had accepted the role in a heartbeat.

As Mara watched Han and Leia say their fateful vows to one another, she started wondering if she would ever get married or have a family of her own someday. The thought seemed absurd to her. Nobody could ever love her in the way that Han clearly loved Leia. Even if somebody could ever love Mara in that way she wasn't sure if she would like it. She wasn't one to show her emotions much and the thought of sharing a life with someone else besides herself was a scary thought.

The only other person that trusted her and didn't annoy her that much was Leia's twin brother Luke. Luke, besides Leia and Han, all thought that Mara Jade was still an Imperial spy sent to kill anyone that was a rebel. Many people feared her and wouldn't even acknowledge her when she was onCoruscant. It didn't matter that she was a changed woman from her days as Emperor's Hand, but people seemed blind to that fact. They chose to ignore the facts and believe every rumor that they heard about her was true.

That's why Mara found it ironic that the one person who did completely trust her was Luke. She remembered finding him in deep space and all she wanted to do was kill him. She wanted to fulfill the Emperor's last command that had been haunting her dreams for the last three years before she had found Luke.

Instead of killing Luke like she had planned on doing, she kept finding excuses to keep him alive. She needed him alive through their trek through Myrkr. She snatched him away from the crazy clone Jedi master Joruus C'baoth in order to rescue Karrde from Admiral Thrawn.

By the time they had rescued Karrde she didn't want to kill him anymore. She just wanted to kill the voice that rang through her head every night when she fell asleep. Luckily they found a convenient way of killing that annoying voice. All she had to do was kill the clone Luuke at Mount Tantiss.

She looked over at Luke who was standing off to the side of Han. He was looking at Leia and seemed happy to see his twin so happy. Then he turned his head and was looking at her. He was giving her that earnest look again. Over the last couple of weeks he had been looking at Mara differently. It unsettled Mara to say the least. She felt uncomfortable at times and it made her feel something she didn't want to admit to herself. She looked away towards Han who was finishing his vows.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." With those words Han kissed Leia passionately for the first time as husband and wife. Everyone clapped and stood up for the happy new couple. As the wedding music began to play, Han and Leia walked down the aisle and out the doors leading to the garden outside.

After the newly weds walked down the aisle and out the doors the rest of the wedding party was allowed to follow. Since Luke and Mara were best man and maid of honor they were the last ones to exist of the wedding party.

Finally it was their turn to walk down the aisle. Luke held out his arm and Mara gently took it and let him lead her down the aisle. If it was anyone else who was leading her, she would have been mad and furious, thought Mara. But strangely she didn't feel upset at all that she was being led by Luke. In fact she felt calm and content. It felt right to Mara and scared her at the same time. Without warning a vision passed before her eyes.

_She was standing on a balcony and leaning against it. There was a beautiful lake that she could see and seemed to stretch for miles without an end to it. The water was so blue and clear that she could almost see the fish in the water. The wind started to pick up and the dress she was wearing fluttered around her. Without warning someone came up behind her and turned her around. It was Luke and before she could do or say anything he pulled her to him and kissed her passionately. _

Mara faltered a step from the vision she had seen. She felt that there were missing parts of the vision she hadn't seen, but the feeling of the vision was complete happiness and joy that she had never felt before. Then after the happy feeling faded, Mara realized that the vision had included her kissing Luke Skywalker. That would never happen and thought that the vision must have been a dream or something else. Because if that had been a vision of the future she was terrified by what it could mean.

She shouldn't be thinking that she and Luke felt right together either. Nothing good could come of it, she thought to herself. She looked up to find that Luke was looking at her with a question in his blue eyes. She smiled at him to reassure him she was fine and continued walking.

She still couldn't believe what she had just seen. She and Luke were just friends, nothing more. But in her heart she feared that she falling in love with her best friend and was terrified that she couldn't stop it.

Luke had enjoyed the ceremony and was happy to see his sister and best friend finally married. They both seemed very happy and radiated much love on their special day. It also made him feel a little sad though. He doubted he would ever fall in love again. It seemed like all of his past relationships had been meant for failure. Gaeriel wouldn't leave her world and life behind for him and Callista had left him.

During the ceremony he couldn't help but notice how beautiful Mara Jade had looked as Leia's maid of honor. In the last couple of months he had realized that he had been feeling different about her. He didn't dare voice his feelings to Mara though. He knew that she hated change and wouldn't like it that her best friend was feeling more than just friendship towards her.

He had kept sneaking glances at her throughout the ceremony. The last time she had noticed and seemed to know what he had been thinking. He knew that it had made her feel uncomfortable, but he couldn't help it. She was mesmerizing to him and all he wanted to do was look at her for the rest of his life. He knew that probably wouldn't happen, but he wished very hard that he was wrong.

Finally the priest announced Han and Leia as husband and wife. Han took Leia in his arms and kissed Leia passionately. The crowd of course cheered and Luke couldn't help but get caught up in the middle of all of it. The newly weds walked down the aisle to the wedding music playing and shortly afterwards the rest of the wedding party followed.

Luke and Mara were the last ones to walk down the aisle. He held out his arm to Mara and she took it without uttering a word. It still surprised Luke that she hadn't complained at all about having to be led down the aisle by him. She had gone along with all of Leia's wishes for her wedding and hadn't complained once about anything. In the last four years that he had known her she seemed to have softened a bit.

They were walking down the long aisle of the church and Luke heard murmurs from the guests in attendance. It sounded like approval and sighs for the beautiful couple walking down the aisle. The only thing wrong with that thought was that he and Mara weren't a couple, thought Luke.

All of a sudden Luke realized that Mara had faltered in her step and turned to him and gave him a weird look. He tried to read her sense in the force and wasn't surprised to find that she had her barriers up. He was concerned that something might be wrong, but then she smiled at him and every other thought in his head vanished at the sight of her smile.

Luke wondered what Mara was thinking about and why she had given him that weird look. He couldn't think of anything and now wasn't the right time to ask her. Later he promised he would ask her why she had looked at him in such a strange way. Mara Jade was a mystery to him and one that he wanted very much to solve.

Finally after what seemed like a long time to Luke and Mara they made it outside of the church and onto the sprawling green lawn that lay before the church. Han and Leia were posing for pictures over in the corner by the flower garden. They looked happy, but after awhile Luke could see Han starting to fidget and getting annoyed with having to stand still for so many pictures. He could see Leia trying to make him stand still and not succeeding at all. Luke softly chuckled to himself.

"What's so funny," asked Mara.

"Han," Luke said trying not to laugh at his new brother-in-law. "Leia's trying to get him to stand still and isn't succeeding."

Mara turned towards Han and realized that Luke was right. He wasn't standing still and Leia was trying to use both hands to keep him still. Mara started laughing along with Luke.

"Those two are perfect for each other," said Luke.

"Of course they are," Mara replied. "I'm just surprised that it took them so long to admit it to each other."

"Well they are two of the most stubborn people that I know, except for you of course." Luke said with a hint of a smile on his face.

"You think that I'm more stubborn than those two? Clearly you don't know me that well. I could never be as stubborn as those two."

"I do know you and you are more stubborn than both of them combined." Luke looked over to see Mara glaring at him with her emerald eyes and decided to add on to his comment before she decided that she really did want to kill him again. "But that's why I like you so much."

Mara stopped glaring at him and wondered at his choice of words. He said he liked her, but what did that mean? Did he like her as a friend or more than just a friend? She didn't know anymore and didn't want to know the answer anyways.

"I'm not that stubborn," Mara said. She knew that wasn't true. She was very stubborn and always got her way no matter what. She saw that Luke was going to start talking again about how 'stubborn' she could be, so before he could get a word out of his mouth she decided to hit him with her bouquet of flowers.

Han and Leia had just finished posing for their wedding photos (at least for the time being) and were enjoying the feeling of being newly weds. They thanked all of the people who came up to them and wished them happiness on their new life together and congratulations. They were strolling along arm in arm to see where the rest of their wedding party had disappeared to. The entire wedding party was supposed to pose for their pictures in the next five minutes and most of them were scattered throughout the garden.

All of a sudden Leia heard a sound that she hadn't heard in a long time, her brother laughing and sounding happy. She turned toward where Luke was and was amazed to find him defending himself against Mara Jade who was hitting him with her maid of honor's flower bouquet. The two of them were oblivious to everyone else in the area.

"What are you looking at Princess?" asked Han as he came up behind his wife and pulled her into a warm embrace.

"Watching my maid of honor hitting the best man with her bouquet of flowers," replied Leia.

"Those two will be the next to get married," said Han in an almost serious voice, but with a wicked grin on his face.

"I don't think so," said Leia uncertainly. "I mean I love both of them, but they're both so different. I don't see how it could work between them."

"You're forgetting one thing sweetheart," said Han.

Leia raised an arched eyebrow towards her new husband. "And what would that be?"

"We're both different and we're doing just fine," Han said in a loving way. "Actually we're doing much better than just fine."

Leia smiled to herself. Yes she and Han were both different and it had taken them forever to admit that they loved each other and even longer yet before they decided to get married. But they were doing fine and would continue doing so.

"Sometimes I just think that it would be hard for Mara to be in a relationship. She's so independent and then there's the fact that she wanted to kill Luke."

Han saw the slight frown on his new bride's face and decided he had to do something to change that. "Don't worry sweetheart. Mara doesn't want to kill your brother anymore. If those two are meant to be they will be."

Leia nodded her head in agreement. She saw her brother ducking from Mara's flowers and noticed that her photographer was taking pictures of them. "Do you think we should tell those two that the photographer is taking pictures of them?"

"Not a chance," replied Han laughing. "I want those pictures to remember part of our wedding day together and how your brother kept getting hit with flowers."

"You're so bad," said Leia laughing. "Must be why I love you so much."

Han didn't answer Leia in words. Instead he leaned into his wife and kissed her soundly on the lips.


	2. Chapter 2

I finally got an idea where this story is going and it only took me a couple of months to figure it out. Sorry for the long time in between posts but my life has been so busy and out of control. Hopefully you enjoy it.

__Westerncowgirl

* * *

Chapter 2

Eventually Mara stopped hitting Luke with her flowers because she was laughing so hard and was having problems staying upright.

"See you are stubborn," Luke said as he continued laughing. "You always get your way, one way or another." Mara was still laughing, but was starting to get control back over herself.

"Fine," Mara finally admitted to Luke. "I'm stubborn. Nothing wrong with always getting my own way. I like it."

"Remind me never to argue with you. I'll never win." Luke said mock seriously.

"Sure," Mara said in a good humor. "And don't you forget it. Nobody ever wins an argument against me."

Mara looked down at her bouquet of flowers, or what was left of it, which wasn't much. There were only a few of the Naboo roses that still had partial petals left on mostly green stems. She knew that Leia was going to kill her for ruining her flowers because she hadn't posed for her holos yet. As if on cue, Leia and Han started walking towards them. Mara tried to gather the petals that were on the ground to put back in the bouquet, but each time she put them in they fell out once again.

Leia walked over to her brother and Mara. Han was right at his bride's side holding her hand and enjoying the feeling that his princess was finally his after everything that they had gone through in the last couple of years.

Leia was on a mission to track down her wedding party so they could finish taking all of the holos. She walked up to Luke and Mara and before she could say a word to either of them she was engulfed in Luke's arms being hugged by him. "Congratulations, little sister," Luke said warmly. "I know you'll be happy with Han."

"Thanks, Luke," Leia said affectionately as she pulled back from her brother's hug. "I'm so happy that I can't put my feelings into words."

"I know what you mean," Luke told her. He couldn't believe how happy his sister was and couldn't be happier for her. He just hoped that someday that he would be as happy as his sister was today.

While Luke was congratulating his sister, Han was being congratulated by Mara. "Congratulations, Solo," Mara said with a grin on her face. "You two finally got married."

"Yup," Han said with his trademark grin on his face. "We finally did it."

"It's about time," Mara said in a teasing voice. "I was wondering if you two were ever going to get married."

"Well, we're finally married," Han repeated.

"I can see that," Mara said laughing at how happy Han was for a change.

"So when is it going to be your turn to tie the knot, Jade?"

Mara was caught off guard by Han's question. Why would he ask her such a question? Did this have something to do with the way Luke had been looking at her lately, with that earnest look? No of course not, Mara thought to herself. She was once again over analyzing the situation. Han was just trying to irritate her probably.

Mara decided to play it cool. "Solo, you know I'm not the marrying type."

"Come on," Han said. "You're telling me that if some guy comes along and sweeps you off your feet and you're madly in love with him that you wouldn't marry him?"

"First of all, Solo I'm not a damsel in distress who is going to be swept off of her feet by some dashing guy in shining armor. And if by some miracle, that guy does make me fall madly in love with him, I still wouldn't marry him."

Mara said all of this confidently and without thinking twice about it. No guy was going to fall madly in love with her and she didn't have anything to worry about. The thought was absurd and not realistic to her.

"Care to bet on that, Jade?" Solo asked her wickedly.

"Sure, why not?" Mara said in a voice that implied that it would be the easiest bet for her to win.

"I bet you 50 credit chips that some guy will make you fall in love with him and that you marry him within the next three years."

"You're on Solo." Mara said excitedly. "This will be the easiest money I've made in some time. Hope you enjoy losing your money to me."

"I have a feeling, Jade that you're going to be the one paying up in the end." Han said with that evil glint in his eye.

Mara was starting to get irritated with Han, so before she said or did anything that she would regret later she turned towards Leia and gave her a hug and offered her her congratulations and happiness in her new life.

"So, what happened to your bouquet of roses?" Leia asked Mara as she pointed to petals on the ground at their feet.

"Oh, I was just defending myself against your brother, who thinks he knows me so well."

Leia chuckled and Mara noticed a certain glint in Leia's eyes. That was the glint that Leia usually got when she wanted to play matchmaker between people.

"Leia," Mara said in a warning voice. "It's not what you're thinking it was. He was teasing me about how stubborn I am and to prove my point I decided to whack him with my flowers. Oh and by the way I'm really sorry about ruining the flowers."

"It's all right. I had extra bouquets made up just in case." Leia said laughing softly. "Would it be too much if I said that I would love to see you and brother together?"

"Yes," Mara said in a stern voice that booked no room for argument. "Don't even think about it Leia, because it's never going to happen." Leia looked at Mara again and still had that glint in her eye that was making Mara feel uneasy. "You know what; you read too many romance stories."

The change of topic had the desired effect that Mara was hoping it would have. "I do not," Leia said defensively. "Besides it's my wedding day and as my maid of honor you're supposed to be nice to me and tell me that I'm perfect."

"Fine," Mara said trying hard not to laugh out loud. "Since it's your wedding day I'll be nice." At that both Mara and Leia bursted out laughing at Mara being nice all day and Leia being perfect.

After they had stopped laughing, Leia remembered why she had come over here in the first place. "We're supposed to be over in the garden for our holos with the entire wedding party."

"Do I need my replacement bouquet for the holos or not?" Mara asked in an apologetic voice, sorry that she had killed her bouquet of flowers in such a fashion as she had.

"Yes," Leia said smiling, recalling Mara hitting Luke with her flowers. "Like I said before, I planned for every weird scenario I could think of. There are extra bouquets in the garden for you."

Mara smiled her thanks as Leia started walking away to gather up the rest of her wayward wedding party. Leia turned back to Mara and smiled and said "By the way the holographer got a picture of you whacking my brother with your flowers. I thought it was funny and cute." Without another word Leia walked away before Mara could get a word in.

Mara wasn't content on standing there looking confounded, so she caught up to Leia.

"You mean you saw me hitting Luke with my bouquet?" Mara demanded once she caught up to Leia. "Oh, me and Han saw it all right. It looked like the two of you were having fun." Leia said smugly.

"Leia, we've been through this. Luke and I are just friends." Mara finished in a stern voice that held a warning that Leia decided to ignore.

"Are you sure there's nothing going on between my brother and you?"

"Leia, there is nothing going on between the two of us."

"Too bad," Leia replied sadly. "Today was the first time I've seen him truly happy since Gaeriel left him last year."

"Can we please stop talking about me and your brother? I'm sick and tired of people implying that we belong together. We're just good friends and that's where it ends."

"Fine," Leia said because Mara had that look in her eye that she used to get when she was ready to kill someone for looking at her the wrong way. Leia couldn't understand why Mara was getting so worked up over this. She just wanted her brother and best friend to be happy and she didn't even do anything yet.

The two women continued towards the garden in silence after they had found the rest of the wedding party. Mara was thinking over what Leia had told her. She couldn't help but think about what Han had told her earlier as well. Mix in her own confused feelings and she didn't know how to feel about anything anymore. She knew that Leia had meant well, but she was only making it harder for her. She couldn't figure out how she felt about Luke anymore and that stupid vision from earlier kept popping up in front of Mara's eyes making everything twice as confusing.

Well maybe Mara did know how she felt, but didn't want to admit it herself yet. She took a calming breath and pushed all of these thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on the task at hand. She could ignore her feelings for now and be happy to be oblivious to them.

Once the entire wedding party was gathered at the south end of the garden, the holographer, Alana started taking the holos. First she took many different holos of the wedding party from different angles. Then to Han's horror Alana wanted more pictures of the bride and groom. Alana didn't seem satisfied until she had what seemed like a million different holos. Finally she finished with the happy newly weds and focused her attention on the rest of the wedding party. A holo of the bride and her brother, the happy newly weds with their best man and maid of honor, one with all the girls, one with all of the guys, and so many other combinations that nobody could keep them straight anymore.

Alana promised the wedding party that she just needed one more holo and that was just the best man and maid of honor. The rest of the wedding party cheered to be freed from having to stand still and take any more holos while Luke and Mara were forced to take one last holo.

Luke and Mara stood next to each other awkwardly. Each was wondering what the other one was thinking. They both had their shields firmly in place, so neither could see into the other's minds.

Alana didn't like the way they were posing for their holo. There was a gap between them and they were both leaning away from each other. So Alana made them change their pose. She made Luke stand very close to Mara, so there wasn't any space in between them anymore. Alana, still not happy with the pose had Luke put his arm around Mara's slender waist and made Mara put her head on Luke's shoulder. While they held the pose for Alana to take several different holos, many frantic thoughts were running through Luke and Mara's minds.

Luke had felt embarrassed at first when he had to hold Mara by the waist. But as soon as he placed his arm there the embarrassment disappeared. In its place he felt like his arm belonged there and surprisingly, he felt calm and comfortable. The other thing that surprised Luke was that Mara had actually laid her head on his shoulder without saying a word. He would've have expected her to protest and tell Alana exactly what she thought of her skills as a holographer. He wondered to himself, what did this mean? He didn't know and would think of it later when he had the time to think. For now he would just enjoy himself.

Mara did what Alana asked her to do, without a complaint. She didn't mind that Luke was holding her by the waist. If she was being honest with herself it felt right and she felt like she belonged there in Luke's arms. It felt wonderful having her head on Luke's shoulder. She was so comfortable and at ease that she could've easily fallen asleep if she wished.

She had to stop thinking like that she scolded herself. With that thought came back her thoughts she had put out of mind earlier. She was scared at how right and comfortable this was. She shouldn't be feeling this way for her best friend. Her thoughts could ruin their friendship and then what would she do? All of a sudden the vision from earlier surfaced before her eyes once again. She jerked her head off of Luke's shoulder quickly and was thankful that Alana had finished taking the last holo of them together.

Mara tried walking away, but realized that Luke was still holding her firmly. Mara was desperate to escape; she did the only thing she could think of. Mara stepped on Luke's right foot really hard making sure the pointy part of her heel was the part that landed on Luke's foot. She quickly apologized to Luke and then made an excuse that she had to call and make sure the reception hall was ready. Mara hurried away from Luke and didn't look back to see his reaction. If she had looked back she would've have seen the confusion and hurt expression in his blue eyes.

Mara knew she should have handled that better, but she couldn't help herself. Her thoughts were driving her crazy and she wished she could make them go away. She didn't like feeling this vulnerable and out of control. She was always in control of her feelings, and being this out of control was scaring her. Surely she couldn't like her best friend in such a way could she? She was afraid of the answer and kept walking.

She walked nowhere in particular, just as long as she was far away from a certain blue eyed farm boy who was making her feel things she wasn't ready to admit to herself just yet. When she was out of sight of Luke, she started mingling with the guests. She needed to distract herself from her wayward thoughts about Luke. Talking with the guests about the wedding ceremony, how beautiful Leia had looked in her bridal glory and the other intricate details that go with any given wedding had the effect that Mara was looking for. She kept her thoughts focused on the conversations and that was the only thing she focused on and didn't think about a certain blue eyed farm boy who was in fact thinking about her and her reaction.

* * *

As always let me know what you think. Like it, hate it, want to see something happen? Let me know.

Thanks

__Westerncowgirl


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The dinner and the reception following were held at the exclusive Manarai Mountain Resort in the biggest, grandest ballroom. The resort had agreed to close for the event, so the only people in attendance were the people who had actually been invited. At the front doors, there were security guards, and they were taking their job very serious on this night. The only way anybody got in was by showing security their wedding invitations.

The enormous ballroom that Leia had chosen for her reception was quite spacious and could hold over a thousand guests easily. As the first of the guests entered the ballroom they were awed by the beautiful setting. There were twinkling lights everywhere and many different flower arrangements were set all over the place. Everything in the room was decorated in lilac purple or rose pinks, which were Leia's wedding colors. In the corner of the room there was a table with an ice sculpture of a swan, a rare bird that lived on Alderaan. Next to it was the wedding cake that had six different layers and was made by the best pastry baker in the galaxy who was known for his intricate wedding cake designs.

As the guests arrived and got through the security check, they entered the large foyer that was the entrance into the _Amore Bello _ballroom. Many of the guests stopped there and were mingling with one another before finding their assigned seats inside the ballroom. But others who didn't feel like mingling out in the large foyer bypassed it and headed for the open bar that was located in the corner of the ballroom.

Mara noted all of this as she entered the ballroom. Being an ex assassin taught you to always know where all the exits were located and even the smallest detail taken in could save your life when you least expected it to.

Mara mingled with the guests for awhile before finding her seat at the top table reserved for the wedding party. She made small talk about the usual things that one talked about at a wedding. The bride's smiling face as she said her vows, the fateful first kiss as husband and wife, and of course the bride's wedding gown. Mara mingled for awhile, but after hearing the same thing over and over again, soon grew bored of the tedious conversations.

Meanwhile across the room, Luke was doing some mingling of his own. He was talking to high council members, influential political members, and several others that had been invited to the reception. Luke nodded his head in response to what one of the ambassadors was saying, but hadn't heard a word he said. Luke had caught sight of red-gold hair headed towards the bar and politely excused himself from the boring conversation.

Mara had excused herself from her group of ladies that were going into detail over Leia's wedding gown. Mara decided to head for the bar for a quick drink before dinner. She had just sat down and ordered a simple glass of wine when she noticed that Luke had followed her and sat down in the empty seat next to her.

The guilt from earlier about stepping on Luke's foot came to the front of Mara's mind. Mara wondered if Luke was mad at her, but she couldn't sense any anger coming from him. She couldn't really sense his mood at all, she realized. He must be shielding she thought to herself.

Luke got the bartender's attention and ordered a beer. Mara raised her eyebrows at this. Luke usually didn't have many drinks containing alcohol anymore. Not after the incident a year ago where Luke had drank way too much alcohol and had made a fool of himself at a party that Wedge had hosted. Luke had ended up singing and dancing on a table and then had ended up passing out and falling flat on his face. Luke hadn't remembered all of the details, only bits and pieces of it. Mara however, remembered it very well. She had taken Luke home and had stayed with him the entire night. She didn't trust him being on his own that night after all of the alcohol he had consumed. Mara had helped nursed him back to health and felt a little on edge whenever she saw him drinking alcohol now of days.

Luke turned towards Mara and knew what she had been thinking.

"Don't worry, Mara. One beer isn't going to make me lose control like the last time."

Mara nodded her head and decided that Luke was a big boy and she shouldn't be feeling this over protective of him. Besides if he drank too much he was the one who would look like a fool, not her.

"Besides," Luke added to his companion "I'm not the one who goes around stepping on people's feet with killer heels."

Mara had been waiting for Luke to bring that up and had her excuse ready for him, since she couldn't tell him the truth.

"I didn't mean to step on your foot. It was an accident. I was trying to step on a bee that I thought had landed on your foot and I almost got him too," Mara added with a hint of pride in her voice. "If that dang holographer hadn't made us stand so still, the stupid bug wouldn't have even landed on your foot to begin with."

Mara was a very convincing liar when she wanted to be. In her previous life, if she couldn't lie, she would've been dead long before now. You had to make people believe what you were saying was the truth, even if it was in fact the opposite. Her story sounded very possible, but the thing about having a jedi as a friend was that they could see through your lies. She hoped that Luke hadn't picked up on that, but with him he probably had. To make him believe her even more she muttered 'sorry' to him.

Luke knew that Mara wasn't telling the whole truth, but didn't feel like calling her out on it. He was puzzled by her behavior, but usually Mara didn't lie and if she was lying she had a very good reason for it. He just wished he knew why Mara didn't feel like telling him the truth. It wasn't even that big of a deal. All she had done was step on his foot. There were worse things to lie about then this. Luke decided to let Mara have her little secret for now, but was sure that he would uncover it one of these days.

After Mara had apologized the tension in the air between them disappeared. The thing was that neither of them had noticed there was tension between them until it had disappeared. They sat at the bar talking about the wedding and where Han and Leia were going for their honeymoon. They sat there talking until Leia's wedding planner, Kierra came up to them and told them to meet in the back room, behind the top table in ten minutes time. They noticed her going up to the other members of the wedding party and passing along her message.

Mara got up and stretched, trying to get rid of the stiffness in her shoulders. Luke couldn't help but stare at this beautiful woman before him. He wished that he could tell Mara how he felt about her, but he valued their friendship too much right now to ruin it. Luke was trying to finish the last of his beer when Mara pulled him to his feet.

"I didn't finish my beer yet!" Luke complained loudly. Mara took Luke's beer from the countertop and gulped the rest down in one sip. She placed the empty cup back on the counter.

"There," Mara said with a smug smile on her face. "You're done with it now, let's go." She pulled Luke along behind her and all the while Luke just looked dumbfounded that she had taken the rest of his beer like that and he followed her to the back room without realizing that she still had his hand tight in her own.

* * *

As always let me know what you think. Like it, hate it, want to see something happen? Let me know.

Thanks

-Westerncowgirl


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Luke and Mara were the first of the wedding party to arrive in the room behind the top table. It was a cozy little room with a few couches and squashy armchairs that were arranged around the fireplace that stood directly across from where they had entered. The room was decorated in neutral colors of browns and tans and gave off the feeling of calmness. There was a fire already blazing in the fireplace when they entered the room. On top of the fireplace were holos of famous couples who had tied the knot at the resort.

"We're the first ones here," Luke complained to his companion. "I could've finished my drink." Luke went and sat down on one of the couches that were closer to the fireplace.

"Stop complaining, farmboy," Mara admonished him lightly. "They'll be more booze later on after dinner. There always is at a wedding."

Mara couldn't help but add that last bit. Every wedding she had ever been too, had served alcohol. It was almost a universal thing for every wedding to have endless alcoholic beverages on hand for the guests. Granted the alcohol made for some great wedding memories that some would never remember, while others would never be able to forget them.

Mara walked over to the fireplace and stood looking at the wedding holos. She studied them, because for some reason they were fascinating to her. Some of the holos showed happy new couples from different generations, most of them before the galaxy had changed, before the Empire had existed. Most of the happy couples were easy to place, for they were well known to the galaxy.

There was the famous holo star that was well known for her roles in exotic films and who was notorious for her short marriages. It appeared that in the holo, she was on husband number four. Mara didn't keep up with the gossip rags, but she thought the holo star was on husband seven or eight now. The other holos included famous senators, ambassadors, and other entertainers of the galaxy that had been wed at the resort.

Mara leaned in to get a better look at the famous singer, Melina Starler, who had been popular before the Clone Wars broke out, when she accidentally knocked the holo over. The holo went crashing to the floor, but thankfully the glass around the holo didn't break. Instead the holo slipped out of its ornate frame.

Luke looked around as the holo landed on the floor. "I thought I was the one who was always tipping things over."

"Hahaha," Mara scoffed at Luke. "You're not clumsy, Luke. You just have this amazing habit of attracting trouble." She hated how clumsy she could be and it always seemed to happen in Luke's presence. _Maybe there's a reason for it _the small voice in the back of her head said. Mara chose to ignore the voice and started to pick up the holo of the famous singer.

Mara started slipping the holo back into its frame, when another, much smaller holo fell out. Mara stared at it and for some reason knew that it was important, but didn't know why.

"I don't attract trouble, trouble usually finds me." Luke replied to Mara. Mara was sitting on the floor and completely ignoring Luke. "Mara, what is it?" Luke asked as he picked up her surprise through the force.

Mara got up from the floor and put the singer's holo back on the fireplace. In her hands she held a much smaller holo. She brought it over to Luke, so he could see it.

"What is this?" Luke asked curiously. "An old holo," Mara said in a quiet voice.

Luke studied the holo carefully. It was a holo of a happily newly wedded couple, standing on a balcony with beautiful red Naboo Roses behind them.

The bride in the holo wore an elegant white dress with lots of lace and a matching veil. Escaping from the veil were long curly locks of brown hair. The soft brown eyes of the bride shone with love and happiness as she stared at her new husband. She had her whole future to look forward too, Mara thought as she stared at this woman. Mara didn't know what had happened to this woman, but for some reason she wanted to learn more about her.

The groom wore dark robes that looked to be Jedi attire from the Old Republic. He had blonde hair and striking blue eyes, that seemed vaguely familiar to Mara, but she couldn't place where she had seen them before. Mara felt like she knew this man, but she had never seen him in her life.

"She's beautiful," Luke said quietly, referring to the woman in the holo. Mara couldn't help but agree, but felt a twinge of jealousy that Luke would call this unknown woman beautiful, and not her. Mara pushed those thoughts away, because this wasn't about her, and she wouldn't make it about her.

Something in the Force was stirring in the back of Luke's mind. He had to find out who these people were. The force wanted him to know these people. He didn't know why, but the Force never revealed its secrets until the time was right. He would just follow it and hope it would lead him in the right direction.

"She is pretty," Mara said with her eyes on the bride in the holo. "But I think Leia is more beautiful than this woman is."

Luke thought they were both beautiful and as he thought this he could feel Mara's frustration through the force, but couldn't think why she would be frustrated at him. He turned to look at Mara, and her earlier frustration seemed to evaporate and Luke wondered if he had just imagined her frustration.

"We have to find out who these people were," Mara said aloud.

"Yes," Luke said as he turned the holo over in his hands. "There's something familiar about them. It feels like I know them, but I don't remember ever meeting them."

"No doubt the Force is at work here," Mara replied. "I get the same feeling. Somehow it's important to us and to the future."

Luke inspected the back and found that there was a note written on the back of the holo in loopy letters. The note read:

_To my darling,_

_Our love might be forbidden and a secret from the world, but my love for you will always be there brighter than any sun or star in the galaxy. I miss you and love you very much and wish we could be together on our first anniversary. _

_Love_

_Your Angel_

_P.S._

_I also sent you a nice love letter with this holo and hopefully both reach you, even though there is a war on and it might not. _

In the bottom right hand corner of the holo were the words Varykino Lake Retreat, 22 BBY.

Mara was reading the note over Luke's shoulder and before either one could say a word the rest of the wedding party was entering the room. Luke tucked the holo into a pocket and it was out of sight before anyone could see it. 

"You two look like you were getting cozy in here," Wedge replied as he was the first one of the wedding party to enter the room.

Mara realized she still had her head on Luke's shoulder, and quickly walked across the room and sat down on one of the couches.

"Not at all," Mara replied coolly. She hated being caught in such a way and knew that the others were sure to talk about it sometime during the course of the night.

The rest of the wedding party followed Wedge into the room and soon the quiet that had been in the room moments before was gone and replaced by talk and laughter. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood and some looked to have taken advantage of the bar before coming in.

Wedge was followed by the last groomsmen, Lando and behind was the other two bridesmaids, Winter and another of Leia's childhood friends from Alderaan, Nadia.

As Nadia entered the room she ran a hand though her pale blonde hair and the men couldn't help but stare at her. People would always mistake, Nadia for a supermodel and always turned heads whenever she entered a room. Nadia knew she had this effect on men and didn't always like it. It wasn't her fault that she looked like she had just stepped off the runway, but sometimes it could be an advantage.

Nadia was an old childhood friend of Leia's from growing up on Alderaan. She had been off planet working on a mission for the Alliance when her home world was destroyed and like many Alderaains who had been off planet, no longer had a true place to call home.

During the war she and Leia hadn't gotten to see much of each other due to their respectful duties to free the galaxy of the tyranny of the Empire. They had seen each other on occasion, but never as much as either of them would have liked. Once the war was over they saw each other more and had continued their friendship.

It helped that they both now lived on Coruscant and weren't more than an airspeeder drive away from one another. Nadia now worked in intelligence gathering information from the remnants of the empire and other suspicious acts.

While Nadia was working in Intelligence, Leia was helping recreate the New Republic while serving on the High Council. She was being groomed to one day take Mon Mothma's place as president of the New Republic and make sure the government ran smoothly and was fair to all beings of the galaxy.

Nadia was very friendly with the pilots in Rogue Squadron, especially with Wedge, the commander of that squadron. They had been friends for the last few years and anybody with eyes could see that they each liked each other, but neither would admit to it. Who knew what would be in store for those two, if anything at all?

"I hope they're serving dinner soon, because I'm starving," Wedge replied as he sank into an armchair.

"Why is it that men always think with their stomachs? " Nadia asked as she sat in the chair next to Wedge. "Especially when they're at a wedding, where people are celebrating their love and beginning a new life together, and all you guys think about is food and free booze"

"That's just how a men's mind works," Wedge replied

"Nice to know," Nadia replied with a theatrical sigh to show that men just didn't get how important weddings were to the female class and how it was the most special day in woman's life. To guys it was beyond comprehending how special it was, unless it was their own special day.

While Wedge and Nadia were discussing how men and women think, Lando was trying his best to woe Mara for what felt like the millionth time. Mara found Lando's antics to be annoying to say the least and would have loved to tear the man's head off, but felt that Leia might not appreciate that on her wedding day. So Mara let Lando try to woe her and decided to bite his head off with her words instead. Besides, Mara thought, it could be highly entertaining sometimes.

Lando picked up Mara's hand and kissed it gently, like he had Leia's so long ago on Bespin. Leia had told the story to Mara many times when Mara would complain about Lando to her. They both laughed about it, because it seemed like something a prince or a gentleman would do, and Lando was definitely neither.

"Mara you look beautiful tonight, more beautiful than the lovely bride, I believe," Lando said as he dropped her hand.

"What do you want, Lando?" Mara asked bluntly. There was no point in being subtle with Lando, since he couldn't take a clue, even when you said no over and over again.

"Why I don't want a thing, Mara." Lando said in his smooth velvety voice. He stretched an arm around Mara's shoulder. Mara was starting to lose her patience aldready with Lando and hated when he did things like this. Mara looked across the room at Luke and was surprised to see his blue eyes blazing and his hand clenched in a fist.

Mara pushed Lando's arm off of her and then for good measure punched him in the chest, hard. Lando fell backwards over a chair and landed flat on his back. Mara knew she should feel bad for punching the man, but she just couldn't. She was just glad his arm was off of her because when his arm was around her she could smell his cologne and it stank worse than a nerfherder. How could guys wear the stuff and think it smelled sexy, when it smelled so horrible?

"What's the matter, darling?" Lando asked as he got to his feet. Apparently ignoring the fact that Mara had just punched him in the chest and sent him backwards over a chair. The man just never gave up, did he? He must have a death wish, Mara thought as her mood continued to sour.

"Lando, never put your arm around me again, or I'll punch a more sensitive part of your body."

"Come on, Mara you would never hurt me, when I know you want me so badly." Lando said this with his trademark lady killer's grin and Mara wanted so badly to hurt him, but knew she couldn't, at least not yet.

"What galaxy are you living in?" Mara asked Lando. "I would never want you, especially when you smell worse than a nerfherder."

Everyone else in the room laughed at this. Seeing Lando trying to woe Mara was always cheap entertainment.

Mara sighed and just wished Lando would go away now. He was really getting to her. She thought about punching him in that sensitive part of his body, but kept remembering that Leia wanted her whole wedding party to be present for dinner, and she had already unseated the man. She also had a feeling Leia wouldn't appreciate it she gave Lando a black eye.

Lando decided to push his luck one more time to woe Mara before giving up.

"Mara, will you save the first dance for me at the reception?"

Mara was prepared to tell Lando that she would rather jump into a lake and drown herself than save a dance for him, but before she could say anything, Luke stepped in.

"She promised me the first dance, Lando." Luke stepped in and with an apologetic look on his earnest face. Luke also had a look that said don't press your luck. Lando decided not to try anymore and for once got the message loud and clear. Lando looked a little crestfallen, but soon that trademark grin was back on his face. "No problem, there's plenty of other ladies to dance with tonight."

Lando had finally given up and Mara was glad for it. She looked over at Luke and silently thanked him. She could take Lando's flirting, but it was nice to have someone cut him short for once and not to have to endure for the entire night, because Luke had said it firmly and Lando wasn't about to go against a Jedi.

Mara liked the way Luke had stood up for her and wondered why he had done it. She could think of a reason, but she was sure she was wrong. He had done the favor as a friend would do for another friend and nothing more.

As Mara was wondering about Luke's motives, the wedding planner, Kiera came in and announced it was time to enter the ballroom for dinner. They had of course rehearsed this in the rehearsal dinner last night, and knew exactly how to proceed. The ladies would hold onto the arm of their male escort and when they got to the head table, they would all pull out the chair for the ladies. Then once they were all seated, Han and Leia would enter and everyone would rise for the new married couple.

As they started down the long hallway to enter from the grand foyer into the ballroom, Mara couldn't help but think that tonight was going to very special. She didn't know how she knew it, she just did.


End file.
